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YALE, Cyrus, clergyman, b. in Lee, Mass., 17 May, 1786; d. in New Hartford, Conn., 21 May, 1854. He was graduated at Williams in 1811, was licensed to preach by the Hartford north association, and was ordained pastor of the church in New Hartford, Conn., 12 Oct., 1814. He remained there till 24 Dec., 1834, when he resigned and was pastor at Ware, Mass., till 1837, after which he returned to his old congregation in New Hartford, and ministered there till his death. He published “Life of Rev. Jeremiah Halleck” (Hartford, 1828); “Miniature of the Life of the Rev. Alvan Hyde, D. D.” (1852); “Biographical Sketches of the Ministers of Litchfield County after the Year 1800” (1852); and single sermons and addresses.
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YALE, Elihu, philanthropist, b. in or near Boston, Mass., 5 April, 1649; d. in England, 8 July, 1721. His father, David, came to New Haven from England in 1638, but returned in 1651, and was followed in 1652 by his family, including Elihu, who never revisited this country. The son went to the East Indies about 1678, and in 1687-'92 was governor of Fort St. George, Madras. Gov. Yale acquired great wealth in India. On 22 May, 1711, Jeremiah Dummer wrote from London to Rev. John Pierpont, then a trustee of the Collegiate school of Connecticut: “Here is Mr. Yale, formerly governor of Fort George in the Indies, who has got a prodigious estate, and, having no son, now sends for a relation of his from Connecticut to make him his heir. He told me lately that he intended to bestow a charity upon some college in Oxford under certain restrictions which he mentioned. But I think he should much rather do it to your college, seeing he is a New England and, I think, a Connecticut man. If, therefore, when his kinsman comes over, you will write him a proper letter on that subject, I will take care to press it home.” The result was that between 1714 and 1721 Gov. Yale gave to the Collegiate school books and money whose total value was estimated at £800. The timeliness of these gifts, rather than their intrinsic value, made them a great aid to the struggling college, and in 1718, after its removal from Saybrook to New Haven, its trustees named the new collegiate building in the latter place Yale college. This name, applied at first only to the edifice, was given formally to the institution in the charter of 1745. President Thomas Clap says that Yale “was a gentleman who greatly abounded in good humor and generosity, as well as in wealth.” He is buried in Wrexham, Wales, the ancient seat of his family. On his tomb is engraved an epitaph which contains the well-known couplet:
| “ | Born in America, in Europe bred, In Afric travelled, and in Asia wed.” |
A full-length portrait of Gov. Yale hangs in Alumni hall, Yale college. The accompanying illustration represents the completed corner of the quadrangle of buildings that is to inclose the college grounds. The original “Yale college” is not now standing, the oldest building on the grounds having been erected in 1752.
YALE, Elisha, clergyman, b. in Lee, Mass., 15
June, 1780 ; d. in Kingsborough, N. Y., 9 Jan.,
1853. He was brought up on a farm, taught school
in Richmond, Mass., in 1798-'9, and in Lenox in
1800, studied theology, and in 1803 was licensed to
preach by the North association of Hartford coun-
ty. He became pastor of the Presbyterian church
at Kingsborough, N. Y., in 1804, and retained this
charge till his resignation, 23 June, 1852. He
published "Select Verse System, for the Use of
Individuals, Families, and Schools " (Rochester,
1853), and single sermons and articles in periodi-
cals, and left in manuscript a " Review of a Pas-
torate of Forty-eight Years " and " Helps to culti-
vate the Conscience."
YALE, Leroy Milton, physician, b. in Holmes'
Hole (now Vineyard Haven), "Mass., 12 Feb., 1841.
He was graduated at Columbia in 1862, and at
Bellevue hospital medical college in 1866, settled
in New York city, and has since followed his pro-
fession there. In 1870 he was lecturer on obstet-
rics in the medical department of the University
of Vermont, and since 1871 he has been instructor
and lecturer on various branches — chiefly ortho-
pedic surgery and diseases of children — in the
Bellevue hospital medical college. He was sur-
geon to the Charity hospital from 1871 till 1877,
when he was transferred to Bellevue hospital and
continued there until 1882. During 1880-'5 he
was similarly connected with the Presbyterian hos-
pital. Dr. Yale is a member of the New York
county medical society, the New York academy of
medicine, and other professional bodies. His con-
tributions to medical science consist, of various
articles to medical journals, but his principal lit-
erary work has been editorial contributions. He
had "charge of "The Medical Gazette" in 1867-8,
and has edited the medical part of " Babyhood "
since its beginning in 1884.
YALE, Linus, inventor, b. in Salisbury, N. Y., 4 April, 1821 ; d. in New York city, 24 Dec, 1868. His ancestors were of the same family as Elihu Yale, and his father, Linus, was a successful inventor. The son devoted himself for a time to portrait-painting, but, having considerable mechanical skill and ingenuity, began in 1850 to study mechanical problems. He devised in that year a plan by which the key to locks for the protection of bankers' safes and vaults should be so constructed that, when its essential portion was doing its work within the lock, it should be at some distance removed from the key-hole through which it had entered, and at the same time isolated from the exterior of the door by a hardened steel plate, which automatically covered the key-hole behind it. This device he patented in 1851, and thereafter until his death he was a recognized authority on all matters pertaining to locks and safes. His first patent was followed by others for bankers' safes, and for bankers' flat-key and common locks. He patented in 1858 a device for adjusting at a right angle the joiners' square, in 1865 one for reversing the motion of screw-taps, and in 1868 two for improvements in mechanics' vises, and he also obtained patents abroad for certain of his inventions. In the course of his experience he became convinced of the necessity of abandoning the use of a key-hole,
